Two Mixologists From the World's 50 Best Bars Working Guest Stints in Beijing This Week

Beijing cocktail aficionados have plenty to look forward to this week, as two top-notch international bartenders arrive to showcase their individual techniques and far-flung flavors.

First up: Hiroyasu Kayama (pictured above), one of Tokyo's most famous bartenders will be shaking up drinks at CBD stalwart China Bar at the Park Hyatt tonight, May 22. His Bar Benfiddich is not only an institution in the Japanese capital's nightlife scene, it is also ranked among the World's 50 Best Bars thanks in no small part to the wide range of "herbs he grows and forages." Aside from his creative usage of local ingredients, Bar Benfiddich is also renowned for its offbeat ambiance, and for good reason, according to the Worlds 50 Best Bars' website: "He’s converted his childhood bedroom, just north of Tokyo, into a drying room" for those aforementioned herbs. He also has the knack for surprises, often reaching for "one of his unusual infusions, or perhaps a vintage liqueur, many of which are older than he is."

Kayama's innovative use of homegrown Japanese ingredients should certainly endear him to Beijing's adventurous drinkers, whose taste for the exotic are expanding thanks to creative implementation of Chinese herbs at local cocktail bars.

After sampling the best of what Tokyo has to offer tonight, leave some space in your calendar for the hotly anticipated return of award-winning Lebanese bartender Jad Ballout at Bulgari's Il Bar from May 25-26. The last time this top-notch Mediterranean talent stopped by the capital, for a guest stint at Infusion Room, he told us about managing Central Station Boutique Bar, one of the most popular establishments in Beirut's trendy, shoreside Mar Mikhael neighborhood that, like Kayama's joint, also snagged a spot on the World's 50 Best Bars list. Ballout's other accolades include securing the runner-up spot for the Bacardi Legacy Global Final and being a finalist for the Diageo World Class Global bartender competition.

It's not often that two of the world's best bartenders visit the capital within such close proximity to each other but such visits bode well for the state of Beijing's cocktail scene as well as for local mixologists and drinkers who want to taste something new.

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Photos: Punch Drink, courtesy of Il Bar